The Grim Reaper Can Now Compost Your Body
Ultra-green Seattle isn't just getting serious about living eco-friendly, but dying that way, too. As of this week, Washington is officially the first state to allow citizens to compost their own dead bodies.
Their bodies, including bones, were converted into clean, odorless soil free of harmful pathogens.
The Lowdown
Keep in mind this doesn't mean dumping your relative in a nearby river. Scientists and organizations have ways to help Mother Nature process the remains. For instance, the late actor Luke Perry reportedly was buried in a mushroom suit. Perry's garment is completely biodegradable and the attached microorganisms help the decomposition process cleanly and efficiently.
A biodegradable burial requires only a fraction of the energy used for cremation and can save a metric ton of CO2. The body decomposes in about a month. Besides a mushroom suit, another option coming down the pike in Washington state is to have your body converted directly into soil in a special facility.
A pilot study last summer by a public benefit corporation called Recompose signed up six terminally ill people who donated their remains for such research. Their bodies, including bones, were converted into clean, odorless soil free of harmful pathogens. That soil—about a cubic yard per person--could then be returned after 30 days to the subjects' families.
Green burials open the door to creative memorials. A tree or garden could be planted with your soil. This method provides a climate-friendly alternative to traditional funerals, circumventing toxic embalming fluid, expensive casket materials and other ecological overhead. The fertile soil could also be given to conservationist organizations.
Next Up
The new legislation in Washington will take effect May 1, 2020. The Pacific Northwest state has one of the highest cremation rates in the nation at 78 percent, only second to Nevada. Rising climate change and increased interest in death management will only speed this discussion to the forefront in other states.
A biodegradable burial requires only a fraction of the energy used for cremation and can save a metric ton of CO2.
It's also worth noting Perry wasn't buried in Washington State, but in Tennessee. It is unknown where exactly he was laid to rest, nor if it was done under a legal precedent or special exception.
According to the Green Burial Council, each state varies on how and where you can bury someone. Home burials are usually legal, but to do so requires establishing an official cemetery area on the property. How someone is buried has even more dynamic legislation. There will be new discussions about how neighbors contend with nearby decomposing bodies, legal limitations to private burial techniques, and other issues never addressed before in modern mainstream America.
Open Questions
It's unclear if green burials will be commonplace for those with less financial means or access. Mushroom suits average a couple thousand dollars, making them more expensive than a low-end casket. There are also the less obvious expenses, including designating the place of burial, and getting proper burial support and guidance. In short, you likely won't go to the local funeral home and be taken care of properly. It is still experimental.
As for "natural organic reduction" (converting human remains to soil in reusable modular vessels), Recompose is still figuring out its pricing for Washington residents, but expects the service to cost more than cremation and less than a conventional burial.
For now, environmentally sustainable death care may be comparable to vegetarianism in the 1970s or solar paneling in the 1980s: A discussion among urbanites and upwardly-mobile financial classes, but not yet an accessible option for the average American. It's not a coincidence that the new Washington law received support in Seattle, one of the top 10 wealthiest cities in America. A similar push may take off in less affluent areas if ecological concerns drive a demand for affordable green burial options.
Until then, your neighborhood mortician still has the death business on lock.
When a patient is diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, having surgery to remove the tumor is considered the standard of care. But what happens when a patient can’t have surgery?
Whether it’s due to high blood pressure, advanced age, heart issues, or other reasons, some breast cancer patients don’t qualify for a lumpectomy—one of the most common treatment options for early-stage breast cancer. A lumpectomy surgically removes the tumor while keeping the patient’s breast intact, while a mastectomy removes the entire breast and nearby lymph nodes.
Fortunately, a new technique called cryoablation is now available for breast cancer patients who either aren’t candidates for surgery or don’t feel comfortable undergoing a surgical procedure. With cryoablation, doctors use an ultrasound or CT scan to locate any tumors inside the patient’s breast. They then insert small, needle-like probes into the patient's breast which create an “ice ball” that surrounds the tumor and kills the cancer cells.
Cryoablation has been used for decades to treat cancers of the kidneys and liver—but only in the past few years have doctors been able to use the procedure to treat breast cancer patients. And while clinical trials have shown that cryoablation works for tumors smaller than 1.5 centimeters, a recent clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York has shown that it can work for larger tumors, too.
In this study, doctors performed cryoablation on patients whose tumors were, on average, 2.5 centimeters. The cryoablation procedure lasted for about 30 minutes, and patients were able to go home on the same day following treatment. Doctors then followed up with the patients after 16 months. In the follow-up, doctors found the recurrence rate for tumors after using cryoablation was only 10 percent.
For patients who don’t qualify for surgery, radiation and hormonal therapy is typically used to treat tumors. However, said Yolanda Brice, M.D., an interventional radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, “when treated with only radiation and hormonal therapy, the tumors will eventually return.” Cryotherapy, Brice said, could be a more effective way to treat cancer for patients who can’t have surgery.
“The fact that we only saw a 10 percent recurrence rate in our study is incredibly promising,” she said.
Few things are more painful than a urinary tract infection (UTI). Common in men and women, these infections account for more than 8 million trips to the doctor each year and can cause an array of uncomfortable symptoms, from a burning feeling during urination to fever, vomiting, and chills. For an unlucky few, UTIs can be chronic—meaning that, despite treatment, they just keep coming back.
But new research, presented at the European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress in Paris this week, brings some hope to people who suffer from UTIs.
Clinicians from the Royal Berkshire Hospital presented the results of a long-term, nine-year clinical trial where 89 men and women who suffered from recurrent UTIs were given an oral vaccine called MV140, designed to prevent the infections. Every day for three months, the participants were given two sprays of the vaccine (flavored to taste like pineapple) and then followed over the course of nine years. Clinicians analyzed medical records and asked the study participants about symptoms to check whether any experienced UTIs or had any adverse reactions from taking the vaccine.
The results showed that across nine years, 48 of the participants (about 54%) remained completely infection-free. On average, the study participants remained infection free for 54.7 months—four and a half years.
“While we need to be pragmatic, this vaccine is a potential breakthrough in preventing UTIs and could offer a safe and effective alternative to conventional treatments,” said Gernot Bonita, Professor of Urology at the Alta Bro Medical Centre for Urology in Switzerland, who is also the EAU Chairman of Guidelines on Urological Infections.
The news comes as a relief not only for people who suffer chronic UTIs, but also to doctors who have seen an uptick in antibiotic-resistant UTIs in the past several years. Because UTIs usually require antibiotics, patients run the risk of developing a resistance to the antibiotics, making infections more difficult to treat. A preventative vaccine could mean less infections, less antibiotics, and less drug resistance overall.
“Many of our participants told us that having the vaccine restored their quality of life,” said Dr. Bob Yang, Consultant Urologist at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, who helped lead the research. “While we’re yet to look at the effect of this vaccine in different patient groups, this follow-up data suggests it could be a game-changer for UTI prevention if it’s offered widely, reducing the need for antibiotic treatments.”